because you don’t know shit about what you’re cramming down your booze hole

So it’s been about a year since I’ve moved into my apartment, and my roommate and I were doing some spring cleaning last week. I have a penchant for saving my favorite bottles of wine, and I decided to clear them out for a new year. These were my favorite selections from last year:

Some of these wines have been blogged about, but those that haven’t will get a bit of mention here. First: the Groth 2007 was shit. And it won’t ever be anything but shit. There’s no hint of complexity. It’s easy to drink, and you can fool your unfamiliar friends with it, but you may as well add jello mix to some Mondavi and sell it as the same product.

Standouts: Whitehaven (any vintage, really… 2007, 2008, 2009 have all been fantastic), both of the Chateauneufs were fantastically complex and savory, the 2005 Grand Traverse was out of control and so expressive that there aren’t words to describe it. The Sauternes was great, as far as young ones are concerned. The Cab Franc was titillating. Stags’ Leap was as expected: bold, full, and a complex enough to please a daily palette–the Stag’s Artemis, while on the subject, is also worth the dough.

Mediocre: The Muga and Jordan were not up to par. Perhaps more time was required. The Barbaresco was not worth the $35 that it was. At best, $20. I think 85-87.

The surprise of the batch was the Davis Bynum. For the price point, it’s 100% worth it. 90-91? I remember that being a standout.